SEC leads breakdown of NFL Draft picks by conference since 1998

Using the latest projections by The Star’s Terez A. Paylor, the Southeastern Conference is set to dominate another NFL Draft. Paylor has SEC players in three of the top four slots: South Carolina’s Jadevon Clowney, Texas A&M’s Jake Matthews and Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel. Here’s a major conference breakdown of total NFL Drafts by in the Bowl Championship Series era (since 1998):

, the Southeastern Conference is set to dominate another NFL Draft. Paylor has SEC players in three of the top four slots: South Carolina’s Jadevon Clowney, Texas A’s Jake Matthews and Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel.

The top 10 includes Auburn’s Greg Robinson and Texas A’s Mike Evans, and there are three more from the league in Paylor’s first round. I’ve seen as many as 10 first-rounders from the SEC in other draft projections.

No stunning development here. The SEC has been college football’s King Kong in the BCS era (1998-2014) with nine national titles.

The best teams have the best players, or at least the ones NFL teams want.

Judging total NFL Draft selections by conference has always been a bit of a mathematical challenge. Not all leagues are created or re-created in equal numbers.

For this and last year’s draft, the SEC stands at 14 teams, the Big Ten and Pac-12 at 12 and the Big 12 at 10. The ACC had 14 teams for this draft, 12 for the previous one.

But even with the disparate numbers, there’s no fudging the SEC dominance. Last year, the

SEC East

, with seven teams, had more players drafted (32) than any other conference.

Here’s a major conference breakdown of total NFL Drafts by in the Bowl Championship Series era (since 1998):